Camp Halfblood AU

1

First day of summer. For most kids, it would be something they would be incredibly happy about. Even the kids at Camp Half-Blood, as they could see their friends from last summer. To Virgil, it was kind of a bummer. Yeah, it was kinda nice, getting to train. That was Virgil's favourite part of summer. Slicing training dolls, fighting other kids on Catch the Flag. Of course, he never trained when there were people around. Virgil hated being the center of attention. And, of course, the fact that he had to wear orange (as much as he tried to hide it with a black jacket), the warm weather that didn't really allow him to wear a black jacket, the lack of personal space, having to share a room with other 5 sons and daughters of Hecate and not being able to just be quiet in his bed listening to My Chemical Romance. That wasn't really nice. Still, not being on the radar of monsters 24/7 was good. The outer world heightened Virgil's anxiety, even though not a lot of monsters came after him, as he was son of a smaller goddess, but still. Virgil had... mixed feelings about camp. But one thing he was sure.

It wasn't his home.

Virgil never really had a home. His father was always out, working and working and working to support the family. But some nights, Virgil would stay up late, waiting for his father to come home. When Aaron Gunn arrived, they would talk, and maybe Virgil could talk about school (not mentioning that he hated it, of course), and his father could talk about plans for the future. When he could save some money, or when he got a promotion at his job as a nurse, or when Virgil graduated. Then, their life would be good. They would eat potato chips, Virgil's dad would grab a beer and Virgil some soda, and they would look at the stars from their tiny apartment in Chicago. Virgil would ask about anything, and his father would answer. Virgil just wouldn't ask about one thing. His mother. He tried twice, but his father always sighed and changed the subject. So Virgil would stare at the stars, wondering where his mother was, and ask about how was life when his father was young.  In those moment, life was good.

Virgil was lost in thought, going down the hill of the Big House, when he was brought back to the world very harshly. Being hit by a volley ball.

"Ouch!" He yelled as he tried to establish some balance, and not look like a fool. Big news, he probably looked like a fool.

"Sorry!" This smiling boy came near him, and tried to help him stabilise. Virgil recognised him. Patton Sanders. Quite nice, not very mean to Virgil, but he was never mean to anyone. The boy was the only person Virgil felt sorry for being rude to.

"I'm fine" Virgil brushed him off. The anxious boy then grabbed the ball, and turned to the volley field "Don't you guys have any aim?"

One of the boys blushed and seemed embarrassed, but soon fixed his posture and said "Who said I wasn't aiming at you?" He got an embarrassed look by Patton, but ignored it.

Ugh. Roman Prince. Son of Nike. Perfect in almost any way, good in almost anything. Cocky. Popular. Always teased Virgil. Shortening it up: not someone Virgil liked.

Virgil threw the ball at him, who caught it without a blink of an eye. "This way, you'll end up losing, Prince." And turned around, walking away, only to hear Roman Prince's cocky "I never lose, Gunn." By the sounds that followed, Virgil supposed he just made a score on the game.

Virgil continued his walk to the 20th cabin. It was dark and mysterious, just like Virgil's soul. As much as the boy tried to avoid, he did feel some sort of war feeling whenever he saw those stone walls, those torches and whenever he sat at his bed/couch. That wasn't exactly home, but it was Virgil's something. And, as someone who never really had anything, something was good.

Virgil unpacked, while his anxious thoughts about what this summer was going to bring surfaced on his mind. It was quite a small bag. On the first times he came to CHB, he had almost twice the stuff. With the years, he lost the hope of being able to wear black clothing, and now he only brought some jeans, some shoes and a black jacket.